For those who like this kind of thing; god speed and good luck. I say “nay, nay” to the cod, maybe yes to a late shotgun hunt - and ice fishing? Unless the latter includes a bonfire and adult spirits, I’ll pass. But one topic I heard from some guys at, of all places, the fly fishing show in Somerset Friday, was spring turkey hunting. My old pal from Marine Corps days has a camp in Sussex County. He’s not much of a deer hunter, but turkeys turn him on, along with fly fishing for trout. For all those sports who can’t wait for spring, it means applying for a turkey hunting permit to be legal to hunt come April. Seems a long way off, but the application process begins tomorrow, January 25, according to the Division of Fish and Wildlife. The application period runs to Feb. 22. There are five spring segments to the season, beginning April 26. Hunters bag an average of 3,000 birds a year in Jersey, a good return on 22 birds stocked from Vermont and New York in 1977. The population is estimated at about 22,.000. If you haven’t seen a wild turkey strutting around Mercer County at least once, you don’t get out much. Go to www.fishandwildlife.com for details on the lottery process. I think I’ll pass. I can hunt turkey just on my general Pa. license, and got a nice Tom with a nine-inch beard this past fall. Another reason other than Draconian gun laws, property taxes, etc. Jersey guys are moving to Pennsylvania. FLY SHOW We also ran into longtime colleague Al Ristori at the fly show. Al still hangs on to a saltwater column in the Star Ledger and says the sea bass closure may be short-lived. It seems stocks were underestimated. Trouble is the season may be revived when most anglers aren’t fishing for the species, closing in September. Too little, too late. Mackerel can still be found, but as mentioned above is can be picky. Another old contact we met at the show was Jerry Boucher of the Hungry Trout restaurant, bar, fly shop, motel in Wilmington, N.Y., just a short hop to world famous Whiteface Mountain. I’ve been going there for more than 30 years and haven’t been disappointed with a meal yet. Boucher also offers trout fishing and woodcock and grouse hunting packages. Go to www.hungrytrout.com. RIDE TO HARRISBURG The Mercer County Federation of Sportsmens Clubs is running a bus trip to the Harrisburg mega show on Feb. 10. The bus will leave from Sportsmen’s Center on Rt. 130 in Bordentown at 7:30 a.m. sharp and return at 9:30 that night. Cost is $38 and includes ticket to the show and refreshments on the bus. Call Jim Lear at (609) 882-2202 for details. You can also get tickets at the Sportsmen’s Center. MARCHES AND MEETINGS An anglers march on Washington is Feb. 24. This is basically to try and protect saltwater fishermens’ interests. Go to www.njoutdoorallliance.org. for details. The annual trout fishing meeting at Pequest is Feb. 13, THIS JUST IN Is there a shakeup in the works for the Division of Fish & Wildlife? Reading the just- released copies of 19 reports from Governor Christie’s transition teams can glaze the old eyes, but wading through a sometimes scathing dissection of the Department of Environmental Protection’s review it becomes clear that the team is saying we have to do more with less. Most interesting is the report from the folks doing an overview of the Department of Agriculture. It seems deep down in the review there is a recommendation that Fish & Wildlife become a part of the Ag Department. Anthony J. Mauro Sr. of the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance was a member of the DEP report team. Go to www.state.nj.us/governor/news/environmental%20protection.pdf — Rick Methot is the outdoor columnist for the Trentonian. Contact him at rikwrite@aol.com.
http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2010/01/24/sports/doc4b5bcb3c8c318003700588.txt